Four people of a single family,
including a three-year-old, had a narrow escape today after their kutcha
house got washed away by a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall at
Dhakutey village in East Sikkim. The incident occurred in the wee hours
of Wednesday and nearly buried four people inside the house.
Fellow village residents laboured for
almost an hour to rescue the victims. The village falls under
Rumtek-Martam constituency and is 30 km away from Gangtok.
Locals suspect a leaking temporary
pipeline above the house might have triggered the landslide. According
to meteorological department sources, the area received 4 to 8 mm of
rainfall last night.
The victims - Kumar Lohar (52), Mahendra
Lohar (15), Dilliram Thapa (22) and Sanjay Thapa (3) were rescued by
their neighbours and rushed to the STNM hospital.
Kumar has sustained minor head and leg
injuries and works as a farmer. He and the others were in the house
while the females of the household had gone to Gangtok to attend a
function. Sanjay has sustained a minor head injury while the other three
are under medical observation. The child was almost fully submerged in
the mud with only his head sticking out.
A team from Gangtok headed by
sub-divisional magistrate KL Lepcha reached the spot to take stock of
the situation. The family will be given ex-gratia as per existing norms
and temporarily shifted to the forest guest house nearby, officials
informed.
The family members said nothing could be
saved of their belongings. “We are shattered and left with nothing.
There were some cash and ornaments and they are all untraceable,” they
said.(EOI)
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